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Tuesday, 13 November 2012

Meatballs

Hands up who
likes meatballs? Hands up who
never makes them because they’re too labour intensive or they’re still nursing
the scars from frying off multiple batches in spattering hot oil? Vegetarians stop looking smug. Obviously, I'm not talking to you. Maybe I’m just talking to me and you
all love long prep times and third degree burns but I doubt it. This game-changing recipe came to me
via my friend Elizabeth (check out her wonderful blog The Back Yard Lemon Tree)
who’d spied it on The Wednesday Chef.
Elizabeth (a vegetarian, incidentally) has a nine year old son, is routinely required to feed gangs
of little boys after school on short notice and extolled the virtues of this
super easy standby. There’s no
getting away from the fact you have to roll each meatball by hand, but here’s
the revolutionary part – instead of frying each individually, they cook in one big batch in the sauce you serve them with.

Bypassing the frying stage altogether means not just no more
scars, but less fat too, and a whole lot less washing up. What's more, cooking them this way allows the meat
to take on more of the flavour of the garlicky tomato, which is no bad thing
either. If anyone still has their hands in the air, get them down. You need to make these. Now.

You can serve these any number of ways – on
their own, on a bed of spaghetti, or polenta, or couscous, or rice, or even wedged
into a toasted roll with melted cheese.

1/2 lb (225g)
ground (minced) beef

1/2lb (225g)
of ground (minced) pork

2 eggs

3 slices white
bread, crusts removed

enough milk to
soak the bread

big handful of
parsley

nutmeg for
grating (or 1/4 teaspoon ground)

28 oz (800g) can pureed
or chopped tomatoes

one clove garlic,crushed

pinch of sugar

salt

pepper

Place the meat
and eggs in a largish bowl. Tear the bread into little pieces, then soak them in the
milk and squeeze them out, adding them to the bowl. Chop the parsley and add that too. Grate in a bit of nutmeg
to taste, then season the mixture with salt and pepper.

With your hands,
mix all of this together until it's a smooth, uniform mass. Cover the bowl and
stick it in the fridge for a few hours. When you're ready to cook, form the
meatballs. It’s up to you what size you make them but I found a two-bite size
works pretty well. Put them on a plate.

In a large pot,
fry the garlic in olive oil for about a minute (til it has a little colour), then pour in the tomatoes and their
juices. If you’re working with
whole tomatoes and not pureed or chopped, break them up with a
wooden spoon (or with a knife after you open the can but haven’t emptied it
yet). Add salt to taste and a
pinch of sugar (to counter the acidity of the tomatoes). Cook this over medium-low heat for
about 25 minutes. Then gently plop
the meatballs into the pot, submerging them as much as possible.

Put the lid on
and let the sauce and meatballs simmer slowly away. Resist the urge to stir - if you’re concerned, shake the pot
a little. After 25 minutes, dinner is done.

1 comment:

This meatballs are so easy, I can't completely verify the taste as I just make them for other folk but everyone raves about their lightness. You can easily double the recipe and feed a crowd and I've made them using minced lamb for some non beef eating hindu friends.